Welcome to the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at Rice University. Our faculty and students advance the state-of-the-art in a broad set of disciplines, spanning and redefining the limits of ECE. We create, innovate and design technologies in healthcare, robotics, computing, communications, electronics, and more. Rice ECE is at the crossroads of hardware and software. We integrate these tools to create better, faster, safer technologies to move humanity forward.

Honors/Awards

ECE at Rice is a diverse, dynamic community that emphasizes collaboration and teamwork between faculty, staff and students. Our commitment is to cultivate a learning environment where the diversity of ideas is valued. Learning from each other and respecting each other's views is an essential part of teamwork. We are dedicated to helping all students, faculty, staff, and colleagues to be successful. Our internationally recognized faculty are well respected for their research, industry accomplishments, and expertise in teaching.

Faculty

Staff

Students

The Electrical and Computer Engineering department offers two graduate degree programs. The Master of Electrical Engineering (M.E.E.) degree is a non-thesis, course-based program designed to increase a student’s mastery of advanced subjects. The Master of Science/Doctor of Philosophy (M.S./Ph.D) degree program prepares students for a research career in academia or industry. No stand-alone M.S. is offered.

Resources

The department offers two undergraduate degrees: the Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering (B.S.E.E.) and the Bachelor of Arts in Electrical Engineering (B.A.). Both degrees are organized around a core of required courses and a selection of elective courses from five Specialization Areas: Computer Engineering; Data Science; Neuroengineering; Photonics, Electronics and Nano-devices; and Systems.

Resources

ECE research is highly interdisciplinary and covers a broad range of topics. Currently, ECE research focuses on the following areas: Computer Engineering; Data Science; Neuroengineering; Photonics, Electronics and Nanodevices; and Digital Signal Processing, Systems and Wireless

Opportunities

Along with a vibrant and dynamic seminar series featuring visiting speakers, the ECE department annually hosts Corporate Affiliates Day, a vibrant research showcase. The department also hosts two distinguished lecture series: The Chapman Distinguished Lecture and the Gene Brice Colloquium.

Welcome to the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at Rice University. Our faculty and students advance the state-of-the-art in a broad set of disciplines, spanning and redefining the limits of ECE. We create, innovate and design technologies in healthcare, robotics, computing, communications, electronics, and more. Rice ECE is at the crossroads of hardware and software. We integrate these tools to create better, faster, safer technologies to move humanity forward.

Honors/Awards

ECE at Rice is a diverse, dynamic community that emphasizes collaboration and teamwork between faculty, staff and students. Our commitment is to cultivate a learning environment where the diversity of ideas is valued. Learning from each other and respecting each other's views is an essential part of teamwork. We are dedicated to helping all students, faculty, staff, and colleagues to be successful. Our internationally recognized faculty are well respected for their research, industry accomplishments, and expertise in teaching.

Faculty

Staff

Students

The Electrical and Computer Engineering department offers two graduate degree programs. The Master of Electrical Engineering (M.E.E.) degree is a non-thesis, course-based program designed to increase a student’s mastery of advanced subjects. The Master of Science/Doctor of Philosophy (M.S./Ph.D) degree program prepares students for a research career in academia or industry. No stand-alone M.S. is offered.

Resources

The department offers two undergraduate degrees: the Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering (B.S.E.E.) and the Bachelor of Arts in Electrical Engineering (B.A.). Both degrees are organized around a core of required courses and a selection of elective courses from five Specialization Areas: Computer Engineering; Data Science; Neuroengineering; Photonics, Electronics and Nano-devices; and Systems.

Resources

ECE research is highly interdisciplinary and covers a broad range of topics. Currently, ECE research focuses on the following areas: Computer Engineering; Data Science; Neuroengineering; Photonics, Electronics and Nanodevices; and Digital Signal Processing, Systems and Wireless

Opportunities

Along with a vibrant and dynamic seminar series featuring visiting speakers, the ECE department annually hosts Corporate Affiliates Day, a vibrant research showcase. The department also hosts two distinguished lecture series: The Chapman Distinguished Lecture and the Gene Brice Colloquium.

Simar first received a Brown Teaching Grant in 2015. That award made it possible for his team to design and fabricate a new computing platform. The students created a platform packed with a high-performance microcomputer, micro-switches, LEDs, a micro USB and one hundred external connections, all within the footprint of a piece of chewing gum. The students named the platform “Wrigley”.

This newest Brown Teaching Grant will allow for growth of the project through more collaboration and sharing between students.

“Now our goal is to develop a student-centered ecosystem that allows students to share their design experiences with each other,” Simar said. He expects that this open-source, collaborative environment will spur students on to the next level of design work.

“The system will be a custom-designed website open to Rice students,” he explained. “We want to capture student experiences and use them to show other students how to build their own system.”

Currently, Wrigley is utilized in the Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) Program and Senior Design. The VIP Program at Rice unites undergraduate education and faculty research in a team-based context. The program extends the design experience beyond a single semester, providing the time and context to learn and practice professional skills, to make substantial contributions, and experience different roles on large multidisciplinary design/discovery teams.

In March, Simar’s VIP Team, Team “DISSECT” (Distributed Sensors, Effectors and Computers Team) won “Best Undergraduate Research” at ECE Corporate Affiliates Day. The team showed that Wrigley builds on the capabilities of the Texas Instruments Tiva C Series Launchpad.

With less than half the size and a 250% increase in pin connections from the Launchpad, Wrigley is a powerful and conveniently sized device that allows students to apply familiar concepts in a more powerful and flexible way, to realize bigger and better projects.